( ^'-^ ) 



bazars might be prohil)itcd witliout causing any injury, 

 and (be prohibition would have the effect of causing larger 

 fish to be brought to market. lu Mysor, it is sug- 

 gested (p. civ) that if they might not bo disposed of, 

 the people who caught them would eat them at home. lu 

 the Nerbada Division two Collectors give tiieir opinions : 

 the first considers such a rule (p. cxxi) Avould be a 

 benelleial oue ; the second, that it would reduce the sales 

 by one-half, apparently overlooking the; fact that if half 

 the anrount of fish sold are merely fry, what a waste- 

 ful destructiou must be trikiug place ; for, as observed iu 

 South Cauara of fishes of this size captured for eating, — " I 

 saw oue day some thousands as fine as a straw within the 

 compass of one earthen pot : thoy were to form the meal for 

 one labouring man, whereas they miglit have sufficed to 

 stock a lake or feed a town" (p. Ixxxviii). Objections have 

 been raised to prohibiting the use of a mesh under a certain 

 size : one reason brought forward being, that some 

 species of Indian fish are always of a snuill size, and 

 you would thus prohibit their capture, to the great 

 loss of this sort of food to the people of the country. 

 Exclusive of tlie natural answer — t,hat tluiseare the young or 

 the food of tlie larger sorts, so should be preserved — other 

 propositions have been advanced. Thus chilwns and moree 

 nets (p. li.), it has been suggested, should not be regulated, 

 or all these fish will escape. The Chief Comniissioner 

 of the Paujab observed — cliilwa nets were not approved of, 

 as such might be emjiloyed to take the young of larger fish 

 (p. n). Chilwas are said to I)e taken in Peshawur (p. ix). The 

 Deputy Commissioner of Labor (p. xi) observes that tliis 

 fishing is carried on during July and August, the exact 

 period when young fish are moving about, and it would l)e 

 an extraordinary coincidence did these fish appear suddenly 

 at this period, and were al)sent during the remainder of the 

 year; the fact being that the vast majority of chilwas are in 

 reality the fry of larger species of fish. The Extra Assistant 

 Commissioner of Phillur suEre-ests that chilwa fishins: misrht 

 be permitted in the early spring when fi-y arc not moving 

 about (p. xv) ; or iu Kangra that taking chilwas might be 

 allowed in those streams to which larger species of fish 

 never resort (p. xvi). It has also been projiosed that only 

 during certain fixed periods may small fish be disposed of, 

 whilst in Kangra (p. xvi), licensed fish-stalls, uuilera Govern- 

 ment olficial, have been advocated. In short, that even were 



